Tenants living in the Buttergate Apartments on the Donore Road in Drogheda are up in arms over plans by their landlord, Manley Construction / Rockview Developments, to extend the apartment complex. They want the company to start looking after the existing apartments before they build new ones.
The Tenants, who pay between €905 and €1,600 per month rent, have written to their landlords demanding that they start properly maintaining their homes, buildings, and surroundings and protesting against a complete lack of communication and information from them regarding the planned works.
In a letter signed by 32 of the residents, the tenants say that the first the families knew about the proposed extension was when the developers dropped a big blue container to act as a site office in the front of their homes.
“When each of us started tenancy, we were never informed that there were plans to expand the complex” they say in their letter.
They add that for years their landlord has failed to properly maintain the existing apartments and their surroundings saying that the lack of interest in properly managing the complex, repairing and painting people’s homes is “derogatory and unacceptable.”
They further point out to the owners that that while they have to wait for months to get basic repairs carried out, work that is required by law such as maintenance of boilers, plumbing and electrics, when it comes to rent collections and increases they are always punctual.
“Lifts in both blocks are broken for over six months despite the fact that for elderly and sick people living here, climbing stairs or carrying shopping is very difficult or practically impossible” said a spokesperson for the residents.
“The gate access system has been broken for many years, meaning that anyone can gain access to the complex. This has led to multiple episodes of anti-social behavior such as homeless and addicted people sleeping in corridors.”
He said that the company were informed about this situation many times but there has never been any response and nothing has ever been done.
“Corridors have never been washed or repainted since they were first laid 17 years ago and, as you can imagine, they stink to high heaven and look disgusting.
“In the car parks the lack of maintenance means that they have become a health hazard, with plumbing pipes leaking waste and a foul stench that makes daily life and use unbearable.
“We are of the opinion that all of the above actions and the total lack of maintenance are being taken by you to force us out of our homes” the residents say in their letter, adding that “This will help you expand the complex more easily and will most likely lead to the same situation repeating itself for new tenants.”
Drogheda Life contacted Manley Construction / Rockview Developments seeking a comment on this issue but received no response.
